tonight on "world news" -- super showdown. voting in ten states. the biggest test yet. can mitt romney put away the nomination tonight? survivor's story. a mom who lost her leg, shielding her children from that tornado's fury. >> it's something that any mother would do. >> as her home went from this, to this. stressed out. women stretched too thin. the simple test to see if stress is wrecking your body. and remembering the music man. he wrote some of the most magical music in the movies. tonight, the secrets behind his songs. ♪ it's a small world after all

good evening. this is it. the super-sized night, which usually changes everything. voters in ten states are lining up at the polls, right now, as we are on the air, from north dakota, to georgia, idaho, to massachusetts. so, is this the night mitt romney virtually locks up the race? and what will rick santorum do? our team is on the ground, as "your voice, your vote" is rolling in. and abc's david muir and jon karl spent the day with the candidates as they cross this finish line. let's begin right now with david muir. david? >> reporter: diane, no question, this is a critical evening for mitt romney. we're at his headquarters here in boston. if he does well this super tuesday, and particularly this evening in ohio, this could be the night when he seals the deal on this nomination, making it nearly mathematically impossible for the other candidates to catch up. late today, mitt romney, and his wife, ann, coming back to their home, massachusetts, to vote in belmont. our cameras trained on their

every move there. we caught a moment when he was holding his ballot. he smiles at his wife. this is a man who has running for president for six years. declaring last june in neighboring new hampshire. we saw the wave of the crowd. and everything that followed. the holding of the babies, the parades, the debates, the state fairs. 21 states. 360 events. and the debates themselves, diane, 32 hours, 31 minutes of debates. the governor saying, too hard to predict what will happen tonight. but we can predict what he will have for dinner. his son, tagg, making dinner. chicken marsala, we're told. i have a question for you, diane. i'm curious what's on the menu in ohio. >> jon, what about that? >> reporter: well, no big dinner plans. the santorums are going to have spaghetti. but they will be watching the

returns anxiously. rick santorum sees this as his david versus goliath moment. up against an opponent, that has vastly outspent him, out opposed him. an endorsement that says going into the big primaries. santorum was sounding nostalgic about all he was able to achieve so far. >> jon and david. >> the people of america saw a guy from a little steel town in southwestern pennsylvania. go out and take his message on the road in iowa. driving around in the chuck truck. a dodge ram pickup, with about 200,000-some miles on it. >> reporter: santorum told me, no matter what happens today, he is already winning, just to be in this race at the level that he is. but make no mistake, diane. santorum needs to score big here today, if he's going to have any chance of capturing the republican nomination. >> and jon karl and david muir will be standing by all evening as the results come in. i want to bring in george stephanopoulos right now. so, is mitt romney is nominee?

>> almost certainly, i think. look at what we know right now. mitt romney will win the most states tonight. he will win the most delegates. at the end of the night, he will be the only candidate to win enough delegates to get it locked up before the conventions. he can secure the claim to the nomination, only if he does beat rick santorum in the big battleground state of ohio. that's what everybody is watching tonight. >> you and i have been going over the exit polling. you say there's a vulnerability here. >> we can see the challenge. tonight in ohio, voters will go to the polls. they believe that mitt romney is the most electable. 53% think he has the best ability to beat president obama. but when you ask who understands the problems of average americans, look at that. only 23% say mitt romney. he's got a real connection problem here. not dissimilar to what barack obama had four years ago. >> can he close in on the problems of average americans? it's embedded in the polls. george and i will be studying

the polls. bringing you more of the tea leaves they bring us tonight. on the election tonight and what is to come. be sure to stay with us, as the ten states come in with this decisive voting night. we hope you will join us throughout the evening. thank you, george. now, we have news about the united states and iran, tonight. possibly back from the brink of war. the threat of a first strike by israel. today, the iranians blinked, finally agreeing to let nuclear inspectors examine parts of a secret military research complex. and western nations agreed to talk to iran about ways to diffuse the crisis. and the president was asked about all this at a news conference today. and he answers with a challenge to his republican rivals. abc's jake tapper was there. jake? >> reporter: president obama was unapologetic this afternoon about stealing some super tuesday thunder. >> now, i understand there's some political contests going on tonight. >> reporter: taking the opportunity to rail against what he called bluster and big talk by the republican candidates for

threatening war with iran over its suspected nuclear weapons program. >> those who are beating the drums of war, should explain clearly to the american people what they think the costs and benefits would be. i'm not one of those people. >> reporter: you did publicly say, we've got israel's back. what does that mean? >> what it means is, that historically, we have always cooperated with israel, with respect to the defense of israel. it was not a military doctrine that we were laying out for any particular military action. >> reporter: the president seemed eager to engage, to campaign. rejecting suggestions he wants high gas prices, to force americans to consume less. >> you think the president of the united states going into re-election, wants gas prices to go up higher. >> reporter: he would not judge the sincerity of rush limbaugh's

apology to the law student he insulted. instead, came this, aimed right at suburban moms. >> i thought about malalia and sasha. and one of the things i want them to do as they get older, is to engage in issues they care about. >> reporter: finally, the president was asked if he has a message to mitt romney, giving the republican criticisms. >> good luck tonight. >> really. >> really. >> reporter: really. it seems part bravado, part sympathy, given the rigors of the campaign trail. diane? >> jake tapper, so much. and on the gas prices the president mentioned. a break today. after 39-straight days, going up today, that streak ended. and the average price of a gallon of gas went down, ever so slightly, by 0.03 penny. to $3.76 a gallon. that's a record high for the month of march. and that is not the only thing down today.

stocks took a tumble, down over 200 points. the biggest one-day drop this year so far. wall street experts blame new worries about ending the financial crisis in greece. and we have an answer, tonight, to a global detective story, a mystery. today, it rocked the shadowing world of internet hackers. the fbi said one of the most feared hackers has been an informant, spilling secrets that led agents to bust a notorious hacking ring, that had announced its intentions through videos, like you see here. and was responsible for major break-ins of government and corporate computer systems. the fbi says the informant is a programmer living on welfare in new york. and we now know that all those tornadoes were $2 billion twisters. that's the estimate damage insurers will be asked to pay. but the human toll, of course,

is calculable. including a mom, using her intuition to save her family. abc's matt gutman found her. >> reporter: before she saw this monster chewing up henryville, indiana, stephanie dekker heard it. >> i knew it was coming. i knew just staying in your home, wasn't going to work. >> reporter: grabbing her son, and 5-year-old daughter, she dove into the basement. combining grit with good sense, she grabbed a comforter, wrapping them up and covering them with her body. >> my daughter's like, i don't like this. i know, honey. i could see the wind. i could see it blowing. and the window blew out. and the house started to move. >> reporter: moments later, the 8,000-square-foot home exploded in a cascade of debris, crushing stephanie's legs. >> i knew if i didn't get help soon, i was not going to make it. i was going to bleed out. >> reporter: but her children, unscathed. and it was for them that

stephanie forced herself to stay conscious. >> they needed me. they had to have me. so, i had to figure out what to do. and my son is a hero. he went to go get help. >> to look at it, you wouldn't think anybody could survive. >> reporter: today, in the rubble of her house, her in-laws told me how alone in the dark, stephanie took out her cell phone and started recording what she thought were her last words. >> she thought she wasn't going to make it. and told her husband, you know, our son, how much she loved him. >> how can you do that? you know? >> reporter: while she was down there? >> while she was down there. >> yeah. before anybody was here. >> reporter: but neighbors rescued her. hours later, she was in a hospital. her legs amputated. but her family intact. her spirit, unbroken. >> the love for my children, goes beyond anything else in this world. >> reporter: matt gutman, abc news, henryville, indiana.

>> one mother's story. and still ahead on "world news" -- introducing lady luck. the $336 million powerball winner. what she can learn from those who lost it all. and remembering the man behind this -- ♪ a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down ♪ >> tonight, the secret story behind a spoonful of sugar and the other songs from our childhood. i remember the day my doctor told me i have an irregular heartbeat, and that it put me at 5-times greater risk of a stroke. i was worried. i worried about my wife, and my family. bill has the most common type of atrial fibrillation, or afib. it's not caused by a heart valve problem. he was taking warfarin, but i've put him on pradaxa instead. in a clinical trial, pradaxa 150 mgs reduced stroke risk 35% more than warfarin without the need for regular blood tests.

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we have breaking news, now, about a bombshell in pro football tonight. our sister network, espn, is reporting that the indianapolis colts are cutting their celebrated quarterback, peyton manning. manning's contract called for a $28 million bonus if he stayed with the team. but the colts think he was too much of a health risk. he missed last season because of problems with his neck. espn reports that manning still hopes to sign with a new team. and a lottery mystery has been solved tonight. a woman from rhode island, claiming a staggering powerball jackpot. $36.4 million. the sixth biggest lottery prize in american history. but will she be the lottery winner who hangs on to her fortune? or will she lose it like so many others? abc's linsey davis is in rhode

island tonight. >> reporter: if money can't buy happiness, louise white doesn't know it yet. >> i'm very happy. and i'm very proud. >> reporter: the 81-year-old came forward, today, to collect the $336 million jackpot. she's chosen a lump sum payout, a cool $210 million, the largest crash award in powerball history. her oversize check is written out to the rainbow sherbet trust. it's what her son was craving. he brought his mom along to the grocery store, where he bought some rainbow sherbet. and his mom bought three powerball tickets. >> this will make my family very happy. we are truly blessed. thank you. >> reporter: that's all she would say. probably a smart move. as we've seen with past winners, more money can amount to more problems. jack whitaker won $350 million.

it went downhill from there. a lawsuit. divorce. alcohol problems. this video shows the moment he hit rock-bottom. sitting on a stoop outside a strip club. he brought in a briefcase, stuffed with $500,000 in cash. and it was stolen from under his nose. sandra hayes won a $224 million powerball jackpot with co-workers. and was immediately besieged by people looking for a handout. it got so bad, she had to stop answering her phone. >> how did they find me? >> reporter: sandra says a stranger showed up at her door, wanting a piece of the action. >> you make your money. you do not let that money make you. do not let it change who you are. and you will live a happy life. >> reporter: as for louise white, her winnings have already given her 210 million reasons to smile. linsey davis, abc news, new port, rhode island. and coming up, how did prince harry outrun the fastest

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royal speed. he challenged usain bolt to a race. he pulled a fast one, and took off. leaving the champion sprinter in the dust and laughing. here it is, once again. the oldest trick in the book. making him look the other way. and then, taking off. all in good fun. harry is touring the caribbean in honor of queen elizabeth, his grandmother, celebrating 60 years on the phone. a health alert, now, about stress and women. a study, just released by the families and work institute, confirms what a lot of women already knew. there is not enough time to balance family, home, work and obligations. and new research, tonight, shows how all that stress can ruin your health. and a simple test could save your life. here's abc's claire shipman. >> reporter: emily bushwood thought life at warp speed, that clock that never seems to stop, was just life. >> trying to meet the crazy deadlines, so i can get home to pick up my kids and get dinner

on the table. >> reporter: stress, fatigue, and in addition, weight gain, especially belly fat, are more than just a modern annoyance. they can be life-threatening symptoms of a disorder. >> it increases heart disease. thinning of the bones. >> reporter: the culprit is cortisol. like adrenaline, cortisol charges out of our adrenal glands in times of stress. but constant stress sends cortisol through our system at all hours. suddenly, an internal enemy. creating fat. making too much sugar and sending it to the wrong places. one new study found that people with high cortisol, are 58% more likely to develop heart disease. another found women are more susceptible than men. a few years ago, with a demanding career and kids, i was like emily. but a routine hormone check, a saliva test, similar to the one she took, gave me a shock. the solutions, straightforward,

enough sleep. regular exercise. everyday activities to destress. yoga, meditation, an hour with a good book. i started working out, like lori fisher did, who was also motivated by the test. >> i was trying to set time aside for me. >> reporter: but you may not need the test. think of the research on cortisol and do the obvious, slow down. claire shipman, abc news, washington. >> the test, motivating action. tomorrow, we're going to dig more deeply into the question of women and stress. who is to blame for the fact that women have so little free time? a surprising answer. and coming up, do you remember this? ♪ let's go fly a kite up to the ♪ >> the man who brought us the classics. and his real-life inspiration for it.

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finally, you may or may not know the name robert sherman. but he wrote the songs that so many of us never forget. with his brother, richard, he provided the soundtrack for so many movies and our lives. and today came the news that robert sherman had died at the age of 86. and tonight, we're learning some of the secrets behind those songs. here's abc's david wright. >> see, in every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. >> reporter: the eureka moment for one of mary poppin''s best pearls of wisdom, came when bob sherman got his polio vaccination at school. >> they took out this plastic spoon. and put a sugar cube on. and put the medicine in it.

and you just ate it. and i saw my dad go like this. ♪ it's very clear to see >> and with that, i said, a spoonful of sugar, helps the medicine go down. ♪ helps the medicine go down the medicine go down ♪ ♪ medicine go down >> reporter: remember that scene from the end of the movie? the inspiration for that song came from bob sherman's own childhood. >> dad was a tremendous kitemaker. and he would make tremendous kites that would fly forever. ♪ let's go fly a kite >> reporter: bob and his brother, dick, won the oscar that year, for the best original song. ♪ i feel as lucky as lucky can be ♪ >> they always say,

supercalifragilistic- expialidocious. ♪ supercalifragilistic- expialidocious ♪ ♪ even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious ♪ >> reporter: more than 1,000 songs. ♪ chitty-chitty bang, bang >> reporter: the soundtrack, the world over. a small world it is. all of us, still singing their tunes. david wright, abc news, hollywood. ♪ it's a small, small world >> his son wrote on facebook that wiz father, quote, wanted to bring happiness to the world. and unquestionably, he succe succeeded. thank you for watching. we're always on abcnews.com. and george and i and the whole team will be here throughout the night, as the results pour in. we'll see you then.

wheeeeeeeeeeeee! whee! whee! wheeeeeeeee! ah heads up. wheeeeeeeeeeee!